Category: Reviews

Review—Structures of Kyoto: Writers in Kyoto Anthology 4

October 18, 2021
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Judith Clancy and Alex Kerr book-end this remarkable publication offering insight into the physical, spiritual and artistic elements of Kyoto.

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Review by Renae Lucas-Hall Judith Clancy and Alex Kerr book-end this remarkable anthology (edited by Rebecca Otowa and Karen Lee Tawarayama), a publication offering incredible insight into the physical, spiritual and artistic elements of Kyoto. In the Foreword, Clancy reminisces on the past fifty years she has spent in Japan’s ancient capital, commenting on how More…

Review—Kokoro, by Natsume Sōseki

October 6, 2021

Kokoro (“Heart”) offers deep insight into the human psyche and investigates internal struggles and the darker sides of admiration, envy and temptation.

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Review by Tina deBellegarde First published in 1914, Natsume Soseki’s timeless classic Kokoro has been graced with three translations. My first exposure to this book was through Edwin McClellan’s lovely 1957 version. For my re-introduction to Kokoro, I had the pleasure of reading Meredith McKinney’s 2010 translation. Kokoro (which means heart) offers deep insight into More…

Review—The Art of Emptiness

September 30, 2021
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The Art of Emptiness gives the reader insight into one of the most famous lineages of Japanese pottery.

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By Chad Kohalyk The Art of Emptiness gives the reader insight into one of the most famous lineages of Japanese pottery. Interviewer Watada Susumu starts off with a seeming digression: Kakiemon—the fourteenth generation heir to the famous Japanese pottery tradition—gives a detailed and insightful description of how to smoke a pipe. The charismatic Sakaida Kakiemon More…

Review—Grit, Grace and Gold: Haiku Celebrating the Sports of Summer

July 28, 2021
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In celebration of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games, some summer sports haiku.

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Books on Asia is live in Japan to kick off the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games! In these unusual times, we offer you an unusual take on a book review, written by Michael Dylan Welch. No more delays, let’s go for the Gold! “Hello, everyone, and welcome to Haiku Playmakers and today’s episode of the More…

Review—Well-Versed: Exploring Modern Japanese Haiku

July 26, 2021
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A collection of three hundred modern haiku by different poets, curated from Ozawa’s commentary in the magazine Haiku Arufa from 2008-2018

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By Ozawa Minoru, translated by Janine Beichman, photographs by Maeda Shinzō and Akira (Japan Library, 2021) Review by Cody Poulton Ozawa Minoru is a celebrated haiku poet, winner of the 2006 Yomiuri Literature prize in Poetry, and contributor to a variety of newspapers and literary journals. Well-Versed: Exploring Modern Japanese Haiku is a collection of More…

Review—Bullet Train, by Kōtarō Isaka

July 11, 2021
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Shenanigans on the Shinkansen

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An action-packed thriller with mature themes exploring the nature of evil, loyalty, mankind’s weaknesses and the morality of killing.

Review—Rabbit in the Moon

July 7, 2021
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The author falls in love with Fred, marries him, and then grapples with understanding his Chinese background.

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The reader follows the author, experiencing culture shock, as she falls head over heels for Fred, marries him, and then grapples with understanding his Chinese background.

Review—Pax Tokugawana: The Cultural Flowering of Japan 1603-1853

June 24, 2021

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By Haga Tōru (Japan Library, 2021) Transl. Juliet Winters Carpenter Review by Cody Poulton Lightning— girdled by waves the islands of Japan This haiku by Yosa Buson (1716-1784) captures a snapshot of Japan in the Tokugawa era: isolated, peaceful, self-contained. The Tokugawa era (aka Edo period), which stretched from 1603 until its fall in 1868, More…

Review—Things Remembered and Things Forgotten

June 14, 2021
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A delightful book of short stories from Kyoko Nakajima, author of The Little House, and winner of the Naoki Prize

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Recollections and our desire to remember things a certain way blur our reality and intrude on our ability to see the present clearly.

Review—How Human is Human?: The View from Robotics Research

May 28, 2021
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Androids are certainly tools to think with and one thing they make us think of is our own mortality.

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The Other Ishiguro Review by Cody Poulton Last month in Books on Asia I reviewed Klara and the Sun and contrasted Kazuo Ishiguro with another author with the same surname. Well, here’s a book by the other Ishiguro, Hiroshi, who happens to make robots—and not just imagine them. Ishiguro Hiroshi is probably the most famous More…